Our 2010 Ram rear-ended badly!!!

[Button]

Last Thursday at 6pm my wife, son and I were rear ended by a 74 year old man with advanced Parkinsons disease. We were at a light and waiting for the light to change when we noticed an argument in the Starbucks parking lot next to the street. A young couple was trying to make the gentleman give up his keys because he had hit their car, (they thought he was drunk by his actions) but he instead got in his car, threw it in reverse and punched it! He cut the wheel hard and went in a large curve accelerating the entire time. He hit two more cars before exiting the lot, and still accelerating, glanced off the car behind us and slammed right into our 2010 Ram. He hit so hard it lifted and pushed the rear of the truck sideways a foot. He was driving a Toyota Rav4 Sport. We saw the entire event unfold and I even had time to put the truck in 'park', and place both feet on the brakes to keep from slamming into the SUV in front of me that had a family in it. We still got shoved into them but nearly as bad. All together he hit 5 vehicles. He was flailing and shaking uncontrollably and no one could understand anything he was saying.
My sons OK, I have some whiplash, but the wife got it bad as she was turned sideways in her seat watching him as he hit us, yelling "he's about to hit us" the milli-second before he did. Over $10,575 in damage overall. The collision shop says the frame is not bent and the truck is new enough and still of value to fix rather than total. However I plan to submit a "diminished value claim" against his insurance because a Car-Fax report will obviously show this and diminish any trade/sale value to the vehicle.

 

[1970Duster]

First off glad no one is super hurt. Second this is the first rear end wreck caused by another rearend on the street I've ever seen

 

[RTom]

Wow, glad to here no one was heard badly. Hope everything is setteled amicably between the insurances. Seeing as there were several cars hit, I'd imagine his insurance will be trying to make everyone happy rather than taking it to court...

 

[xlexl]

I'm sorry to hear I know all about having a Ram take one for the team :-( lost my baby because of it...

On another note did they actually throw it on a laser alignment rack before they told you it wasn't bent? The tolerances allowed for dodge ram's are extremely loose. Granted mine was an '04 but I went through the alignment racks schematics for most years for entertainment and noticed that the huge margin of error didn't change much. If I remember right it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 10mil. Honestly I don't see how your frame couldn't get tweeked....

 

[Button]

This is his drivers side which is where he glanced off of two other vehicles. You wouldn't think a small SUV would do so much damage but he was hauling butt when he hit us. I just cant believe he had a drivers license with "advanced Parkinsons"! The next day I was in Enterprise rental cars and he was there getting a KIA Soul. Our eyes met and he immediately bolted for the door and got in the car, (he had someone else driving now) and left. When I told the agents there who he was and what he had done, they ran and got their supervisor who had a look of "oh-no, what have we done", panic on his face, haha.

 

[ShowAndGoResto]

Glad you're going to be ok, WoW poor Dodge Ram! Glad it wasn't worse for everyone.
Hope they take his license away now!
Can you imagine if you were out for a nice drive in your restored musclecar and something like that happened? Yikes.

 

[xlexl]

Mine was around 20-30mil off on both rails and you almost couldn't tell. I'd make sure they racked it.

 

[RTom]

Glad you're going to be ok, WoW poor Dodge Ram! Glad it wasn't worse for everyone.
Hope they take his license away now!
Can you imagine if you were out for a nice drive in your restored musclecar and something like that happened? Yikes.

or on a motorcycle...

 

[Button]

I have a Harley and that thought does scare me! As for the bent frame, the shop seems very reputable and said they had a $100,000 frame straightening machine, but claim the frame is straight.

 

[xlexl]

I have a Harley and that thought does scare me! As for the bent frame, the shop seems very reputable and said they had a $100,000 frame straightening machine, but claim the frame is straight.

Good to hear
I ride as well, and people like that give me nightmares, it's bad enough every time I ride someone invariably try's to kill me, voluntarily or not. Without some guy who shouldn't be driving making a the street into his personal destruction derby.

 

[70GT]

What a story!

 

[1968FormulaS340]

That damage isn't a big deal. They will slap on a new bed and assorted rear parts, and replace the front bumper.

Even frame damage isn't that big of a deal. We just fixed a 08 Ford f150 that had one front frame horn off by 10".

But it still sucks...... Hope everything works out ok.

 

[RedFish]

Glad no one was hurt. The old guy could try and blame the Toyotas' throttle pedal. LOL

 

[ocdart]

Sure glad all the injuries are relatively minor.
This is very scary considering I also ride a motorcycle from time to time. I can only imagine the terror in the car rental office after he left.

 

[pettybludart]

Sorry to hear,hope you and your wife are feeling better after a couple days.Thats when you usually feel the after affects of an accident.The truck can be fixed as where people hurt will have long term affects.

 

[ATW]

No offense to anyone older, but I think it should be mandatory to have yearly driver's tests after age 70. I see more scary sh-t from elderly people driving than I do with 16 year olds...

 

[hcharles]

If your wife has pain, do not refuse medical attention. Whiplash effects might not be noticed for several days. Also DON'T sign any claim forms by his insurance company.

My wife was riding a bicycle through an intersection, when a driver in a pick up truck ran a stop sign. It threw her 30 plus feet in the air, the ambulance crew was surprised that she was alive. The PU truck's driver had an insurance claims person try to get her to sign a release document while in the emergency room.

 

[jaimus]

First off, Glad everyone was not seriously injured,...As I tell all of my patients that I see at all the car accidents I respond to with the F.D., Is that "Cars can be replaced",They take the hit so you can live to talk about It...Secondly, I have to wonder why the cops didn't pull the guys license at the scene, They do in connecticut, Happened to my Dad a few years ago,His new Sundance vs. a late 70's Buick, Sundance was totaled, but Dad walked away.The elderly lady ( in her early 80's),made eye contact with my Dad immediatly before pulling in front of him while he was doing 45 mph,...Thank God for air bags. The P.D. determined that she was unable to continue to drive saftely. It was an unfortunate incident at best especially since she was no longer able to drive herself around any longer, losing some of her freedom and all, but we all have to consider the greater good here.

 

[Button]

I'm waiting on the USAA claims rep to contact me. Seems they are dragging their feet. The truck is recieving over $10,575 in repairs and the frame is supossedly not bent. I plan to file for lost wages for the wife and also a "diminished value claim" on the truck since it obviously wont get as high a trade-in value as it would have before the accident and repairs occured. Any dealer running a Car-Fax report will see the incident. I honestly wouldn't buy my truck if I had to choose between it and a truck that had never been damaged. I'll have to get an estimate from a dealership as per my agent.

 

[alleyoopmgv]

Glad to hear your ok, and I pray that your wife is fine. I got rear ended years ago, and it still haunts me once and a while from whiplash.

 

[69bronzeT5]

No offense to anyone older, but I think it should be mandatory to have yearly driver's tests after age 70. I see more scary sh-t from elderly people driving than I do with 16 year olds...

I agree. I've seen numerous accidents where older people (70+) have driven into grocery stores and etc. Granted, there are very good drivers that are 70+ like my grandpa but others just shouldn't have a licence. I work at a car dealership and I was on the lot and a 73 year old lady in a Pathfinder blew through the red light at the intersection, hit the curb, literally caught air and took out two small trees before crashing into our concrete and steel fence. She had no idea what had happened....